Health workers often choose, or are required, to wear disposable face masks for sanitary purposes to protect themselves and their patients from transfer of bodily fluid or other pathogens. The face masks are often a textile section worn over the mouth and nose to act as an air filter as air is breathed in and out by the wearer. Exemplary health workers that may benefit from these face masks include dental hygienists; dentists; and general practitioner or family doctors. Face masks may also be worn by others as a precautionary measure to limit the transfer of pathogens in areas of wide spread disease, such as the bird flu pandemic. Others may be advised to wear face masks when the individual has a suppressed immune system as the result of a medical condition or treatment thereof.
Face masks of the type having ear loops may also benefit workers and individuals outside of the healthcare industry. Manufacturing workers, such as those functioning in clean rooms, may use similar face masks to avoid contaminating the field with dust or debris. Yet others may use similar face masks to avoid inhaling potentially harmful particles during construction or renovation projects.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a face mask. The mask 100 may include a web 102, generally formed from a nonwoven material, configured to cover the nose and mouth of a user. The mask 100 may also include a pair of ear loops 104 attached to the web 102. Several methods have been used to join the ear loops 104 to the web 102 of the mask 100, including heat bonding the ear loops to opposing sides of the web.
Attempts have been made to create a circularly knit textile that can be cut to length for forming ear loops. A first attempt used separate inelastic and elastic yarn ends forming 16 loops in each course on a ⅝ inch cylinder. This first attempt produced a thinner stiffer product than proposed below. A second attempt knit a textile from polyester covered elastic yarn, which also failed to provide a desired level of bulk and comfort.